Attack of the Rabid Cassie Edwards Fangirl!

A funny thing happened to me on MySpace today…and I’m scared. Well, okay, more amused than scared…actually, more rolling on the floor gasping for breath as I mop the tears from my eyes from laughing so hard, than amused. I was minding my own business, taking a break from writing and I found a couple of notices from MySpace that I had a new friend request and a new message from someone named *Jojo*. *Jojo*? Never heard of her, but the title of her message gave me a clue as to how she felt about me: “Your (sic) a bitch.”

First thing I did was roll my eyes at the “your”. I mean, come on, my second graders know better than that. Strike that, I don’t want to lower myself to her level and I really don’t want to get a reputation as an “ABB” (Author Behaving Badly), although she apparently doesn’t have anything against being labeled a RBB (Reader Behaving Badly).

So, what did she have to say? Well, I’ll let you read it for yourself–while I go get another tissue for all these tears I’m shedding:

Ok, look. Just because you are an “author” which, by the way, I have NEVER heard of you before today. I only came across your name today because I was looking for Cassie Edwards online and happened to come across your little tangent. Seems to me, you are a little jealous that you are not selling as many books as Ms. Edwards. I happen to love her books, and no I do not get my history lessons from her. I do not read them for the history, I read them because they are fascinating stories. I have probably read every one of her books. And will probably NEVER read one of yours. Cassie Edwards is a name that is in many homes across the United States, yours, like I said, I have NEVER heard of.So, just a little advice from an AVID Cassie Edwards reader, get off your high horse and get a life. Stop bitching about other people’s work and work on getting yours known!So, I’m not entitled to my opinion, huh? Well, sorry, but if you’re a fan of Cassie Edwards, you have to take the bad with the good–and there’s a lot more bad than good to be said about Ms. Edwards these days. She’s a proven plagiarist and in my book, you can’t sink much lower than that. I’ve never read any of her books, and never will, because I have no desire to read someone who not only steals words instead of writing her own, but manages to insult Native Americans every time she puts out a book and titles it “Savage” something or other.

As far as you never having heard of me, well, no surprise there, I haven’t been around anywhere near as long as Ms. Edwards. But I promise you, if you ever do “hear” of me, it won’t be because I stole from other authors to make my name. I may write romance, as does Ms. Edwards, but that’s about the only thing I have in common with her.

And really, do you mind if I ask what you hoped to gain by sending me such a nasty message? I don’t know for sure, but if I were in Ms. Edwards’ shoes, I’d be cringing at this kind of meangirl attitude from my fans. Not that I haven’t seen this kind of behavior before, I have, on SB/TB, DA, and numerous other romance blogs (I’ll include some helpful links for you at the bottom of this post), but I have to tell you, you’re not helping her case any when you pull stunts like this. In fact, you’re only making her look worse in the eyes of romance readers everywhere. Not to mention, degrading the genre and everyone associated with it.

Oh, by the way, the new friend request came from Al Cole, a DJ/musician/author in Boston–Go Red Sox!–who has the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Seriously gorgeous! I might have to use those eyes in my next book. He also has a great voice and his music ain’t too bad either. His tagline: “May your heart be inspired to love.” Maybe you should take a look at his page, read the excerpts from his new book, Romance for Women, and listen to his music–it just might mellow you out a bit. Or just stare into those sexy blue eyes and dream for a while…

Or maybe not. Anyway, here are those links:

Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books: http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/. There are numerous posts there, just type “Cassie Edwards” in the search engine, or you can start with the file in the upper right-hand corner. Fair warning though, it paints a pretty repulsive picture.